New Hillsboro mural celebrates the present and looks to the future

On the outside wall of Hillsboro’s M&M Marketplace, a new mural greets visitors. “Together We Have a Bright Future,” by Portland artist Li Tie at 346 S.W. Walnut St. in Hillsboro depicts people in all kinds of happy moments – sharing a meal, dancing, playing flute and playing soccer. Along with the people are cultural symbols like a butterfly, an eagle and the Mayan god, Kukulkan.

Artists Wayne Chin, Rachel Zhou and Zicheng Huang helped Tie paint the mural.

According to a news release from the City of Hillsboro, “The entire scene is set against a dramatic sky of the Tualatin Plains with cloud forms producing a classical Chinese pattern representing harmony and magnolia flowers representing prosperity.”

Tie’s mural is the latest installation in a project commissioned by the City of Hillsboro and in partnership with local government agencies and businesses, bringing murals to the city’s Cultural Arts District. The first two murals were completed in 2022.

The new mural decorates an important hub for Hillsboro. M&M Marketplace has over 80 vendors and hosts futsal games and cultural programs, some of which, such as the dancing and flute playing, are featured on the new mural.

“Murals have a long tradition of democratizing artwork, bringing art to the streets and the people free of charge or barriers to access,” said Karl LeClair, the City of Hillsboro’s public art supervisor. “Public art in general serves to connect us to our community, creates memorable public places, and helps us to better understand our history and celebrate our diversity.”

Although Hillsboro is one of the more distant suburbs of Portland and has a distinctly small-town feel, it is a city of nearly 110,000 people. According to Census figures from 2022, that population is about 65% white, nearly 24% Hispanic or Latino and nearly 12% Asian, unlike Portland, which is about 74% white, about 10% Hispanic or Latino and about 9% Asian, according to

“A community member mentioned to me, after the murals on 10th Avenue were completed, that the murals represented the first time they have ever felt represented here in Hillsboro,” LeClair said, of the murals completed in 2022. “That is why these projects matter!”